In 2017 Kathleen was elected IHFA President β the highest elected office of the Association. This elevation bears testament to the high esteem in which Kathleen is held in by all IHFA members throughout Ireland. The native of Rosslare, Kathleen and her husband John, a native of Bridgetown, joined the Slaney Friesian Breeders club in 1983. The catchment area of the club is Holstein Friesian breeders in Wexford and south Wicklow. A recently married couple with ambitions for their farming future ahead, Kathleen & John were immediately a tease amongst club members, kindred spirits with an in exhaustible appetite for knowledge learning, always open to embracing new ideas to achieve higher standards of herd performance. Their involvement in the club ratcheted up in 1988 when Kathleen was nominated and seconded as a Club officer taking on the mantle of Assistant Secretary. She was then elected Secretary in 1994. As a club member for forty-two years & counting and with a track record of serving as a club officer over three decades, the contribution made by Kathleen towards the vibrancy of her club, for the prosperity of all club members is of the highest order commendable. Kathleen Watson Kathleen & John, on the pathway to an exciting lifetime voyage as progressive dairy farmers registered the Sanfield herd prefix with the Irish Friesian Breeders Association in 1978. Home bred cows were graded up and select pedigree females were purchased to compliment the herd. Their three children Mark, Philip and Jennifer were born in these early years. All the family thoroughly enjoyed farming life; everyone was hands-on especially when exhibiting their stock at local shows. By the late 1980βs the family was exhibiting at nine shows per year: Gorey, Adamstown, Enniscorthy, Bannow Rathangan, Dungarvan, Waterford, Athy, Tullow, Tinahely.Milk recording and IHFA Classification service were utilised to aid herd development and improvement, providing objective data to help make informed breeding strategy decisions for the herd. Successes achieved at National level reached a pinnacle when winning 1 prize in the IHFA National Herds competition in 1992. Sanfield Aero Pine 77 exhibited by the Jones family won Supreme Champion of the National Spring Fair in 2006. Kathleen and John were members of the successful Slaney club team who won 1prize in the IHFA National Inter club stock judging competition 1998 with Kathleen winning the accolade of the highest individual stock judging score. The IHFA National open day has been hosted by Slaney club members on four occasions. Kathleen has been to the forefront in assisting the major logistical undertaking of hosting this prestigious on-farm event on every occasion. Her reputation as a top caliber judge precedes her with a judging CV brimful of past guest master judging assignments completed in almost all club areas. On the occasion of the 40 anniversary year of the Slaney club the IHFA presented Kathleen with a National recognition award.
